Tunisia Ghannouchi denies ties to ‘state security’ case

Speaker of Tunisia’s dissolved apartment and head of Ennahda Movement, Rached Ghannouchi, yesterday  denied any links to Instalingo, a digital content production firm which has been under investigation since last year for allegedly “plotting against state security” and “inciting violence”.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a court hearing in the city of Sousse, Ghannouchi said the case was “a false file like the cases that preceded it”, which aimed to divert the attention of the Tunisian people from the real problems facing them.

“I came here out of respect for the judiciary,…. My presence here will not lower prices, provide security and will not solve the problem of rigged elections,” he added.

After yesterday’s 14-hour hearing, the investigating judge released Ghannouchi without setting a date for the next court date, said his lawyer Sami Triki.

There are currently 32 defendants in the Instalingo case and a number of the company’s employees have been detained and charged with “committing a dangerous act against the head of state”, “conspiracy against the internal security of the state” and espionage.

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The investigations included several journalists, bloggers, freelancers and politicians such as Ghannouchi, his daughter and son-in-law Rafik Abdessalem, and the former official spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Mohamed Ali Aroui.

The 81-year old head of the Islamist Ennahda Party, who was the speaker of the dissolved Tunisian parliament, has repeatedly denied all the charges against him and said they are “politically motivated.”

Instalingo’s defence team has said it considers “the case filed against it as political, aiming to liquidate political figures.”